Step 2: Play the song from start to finish marking down on the paper the sections, verses 1, 2, choruses and bridge if any. Leave space on the page to write out the words for these sections.

Step 3: Play the song again, this time start writing out the words to the verses and choruses etc, pausing the song each time so that you can catch up with the writing. Whilst doing this you must sing the line as you write it. It won’t be in the actual tempo of the song unless you can write that fast or it’s a particularly slow song. It’s important that you write it out and not type it.

Step 4: When you reach the end of the song play the song again from the start, looking at the words and singing them at the track tempo whilst highlighting the words as you sing them. Do this two or three times and you should now have committed them to memory.

Amanda – a really nicely crafted song performance. Your movement from that breathy falsetto sound to your chest voice was for the most part well controlled and delivered with confidence. Some minor pitching issues but nothing to detract from a really nice performance. I feel you could have lost yourself even more in this performance from the
start. Your first statement about not being able to make the performance attractive I feel has caused you to think about this more than the sentiment of the song. Always be true to the sentiment of the song and allow your face and physicality to be natural and reflect this.

Gabby – you have a lovely tone which is very much focused in the pharyngeal region of your vocal makeup which means there isn’t much specificity in your articulation at the front of the mouth. It’s important to gain some frontal placement to get a little more
crispness in your articulation. One way of doing this is to use tongue twisters that focus on the sounds p, b, m, w, and wh. These will allow for a greater awareness of the lips for articulation.

See Mark’s advice when it comes out each week by receiving our Peer Review Newsletter

Mark De-Lisser is a vocal coach, vocal arranger, choir leader and vocal producer who has worked with some of the top vocal talent in contemporary music today including Jessie J, Olly Murs, Jamie Woon and Beverly Knight. Mark has taught at many recognized music institutions and held several high profile TV roles including Vocal Coach on BBC’s The Voice UK. Mark actively leads the renowned ACM Gospel Choir and has published “Sing Out!”, two volumes of pop songs for contemporary choirs. Find out more on Mark’s website: www.markdelisser.com

Might I suggest from my own experience that one can get a more empathetic way of hearing themselves sings as others do, by giving time to listening to themselves sing while wearing headphones……not Earphones as they do not convey enough bandwidth feedback to the listener. In this way one can hear, feel and sense the emotive nuances of their vocalising just as their audience does. I have always found this of great help before making a final recording on my own system. The more emotively the listener is tuned into your rendition, the greater is their appreciation of you.

My suggestion about how to better memorise lyrics is to get into the habit of creating a visual story that “YOU understand” in YOUR mind as to what the song is REALLY about. A bit like writing a brief virtual play or drama in the mind. The better you understand the flow of the story from start to finish, grasp its theme and the purpose of the message behind the writing of the song, the easier it becomes to follow and thus more pleasurable and acceptable to you, so as to more readily commit the lyrics to memory